Weihenstephaner Korbinian | Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan

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Notes / Commercial Description:
Our Korbinian, the full-bodied, dark Doppelbock with light brown foam, wins beer-lovers over with a balance of fruity hints of plums and figs, a dark malt aroma - reminiscent of toffee, nuts and chocolate. Its roasted flavour goes well with smoked meat and fish as well as venison and poultry. Brewed according to our centuries-old brewing tradition on the Weihenstephan hill.

User Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by maxk:

More User Reviews:

5/5 rDev +19%look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

Ya know, last time I reviewed this beer I gave it a 4.2. That is simply unacceptably low for a beer of this caliber.
Have you ever fallen in love with a beer? Sure, at first taste it was merely 'good' but you felt an unexplainable urge to return to the store and buy this beer again and again. What seperates this beer from all the others? You aren't really sure -- there are maltier brews, brews with more complexity, with a greater array of flavours, but none of them match the elegance of this one special beer. This is the kind of beer that makes me want to get down on one knee and ask it to be the one beer for me, the beer that I will come home to, the beer that I will drink with joy for the rest of my life.
Sure, I might enjoy another beer every now-and-again but, baby, I didn't mean it. You're better than all those beers, really baby, I mean it. Gimme another chance, don't go away. I know the weather will get warmer soon and you'll leave me for a time. Don't leave me baby, please, I didn't mean it. Don't leave me, don't leave me. . .

My 300th review, why not make it a style favorite? To all the good lagers that get no respect.

.5 L brown bottle.

A -- Pours a clear, deep chestnut brown with a very dense, tan (nearly brown) head that holds up very well.

S -- Peppery alcohol up front, toasty dark bready, malts follow through with molasses to caramel in the finish. Some vague earthiness and DMS too.

T -- Big hit of rich, sweet, dark bread up front. The molasses character comes through afterward and finishes with a light pepperiness from alcohol. There is some very mild, dark fruit characters in the middle of the flavor, but the dark, toasty bread flavors are most prominent.

M -- Mouthfeel is soft up front with a dry finish and a chewy, medium-full body -- becoming more full with warming.

O -- Okay, Paulaner may have originated Doppelbock, but I think Weihenstephaner has perfected the style. Clean and delicious maltiness that is the hallmark of the style. This is what German beer is all about, whether 7.4% or lower; the precision brewing shines in this beer.

All "5s" mean a beer cannot improve anymore? I don't see how this one can improve to style. Go, get some now and understand Doppelbock.

Looks. A dark brown with touches of gold and red; a medium sort of froth.
Smell. Rich stuff unusual for me. Lots of molasses, caramel, licorice, earthiness.
Taste. Very malty, very creamy and smooth with a finish only a slight bit dry. Doesn't seem like there are any hops in here.
Feel. Full-bodied, creamy, chewy, sparkley.
Overall. Wow. Put this front and center on my shelf of all time favorites. Way out there on the malty end of things, which is perfect for my taste buds. Delicious is all in the mouth of the consumer.

One of the better Dopplebocks out there. A delicious beer...if you love malt, because this beer is full of it. Complex nutty (pecans, walnuts), fruity (over-ripe peaches, dates, figs), maple syrup, and brown sugar flavors swirl over the palate with a heavy coating. Light hop bittering offers a light balance, but not flavor or aroma. The beer remains toasty and lightly roasted from sip to swallow. Very mellow and smooth as it goes down with a bold roasty, syrup aftertaste. A joy to drink.

Overall the flavor follows the nose. Still extremely malty, but with the addition of a heavy chocolate flavor. Malted milk balls. Slightly burnt toast, caramelized brown sugar. Not as heavy on the fruity esters as in the nose. A bit nutty with an ever-so-slightly earthy finish. Minimal hop presence.

Thick, creamy mouthfeel with a medium-full body. Moderately carbonated. Very soft and no signs of astringency. Slight alcohol warmth which probably makes the mouthfeel feel a little thicker than it really is.

I haven't had a doppelbock in some time, but this beer is so wonderful. One should never doubt a Weihenstephaner product, and this is no exception.

Pours a dark burgundy color. The head is two fingers high and off-white in shade. I love how soft and creamy the texture is (plus, it leaves behind beautiful rings of lacing inside my Calvert Brewing Company tulip)

Compared to, say, Celebrator, this beer's aroma seemingly has more defined caramel and toffee notes, compared to the brown sugar and chocolate of the former - but those latter notes are still here! Gentle touches of dark fruits, nuts, and noble hops add to its impressive nuance. I'm impressed how it hits every note I like in a good doppelbock, all while staying in harmonious balance.

Well, of course it tastes malty. I get lots of caramel and toffee to start, along with a bit of brown sugar and chocolate. The finish is subtly fruity, showing up as a mere suggestion instead of bludgeoning the palate. It's not super complex, but it's so delicately balanced. It's just like drinking liquid bread with none of the drawbacks!

While it has a full, rich mouthfeel, it manages to leave the palate with minimal effort. Translation: it's dry. Dry and easy to drink. This is in spite of the silky smooth texture, and the aforementioned thickness. Carbonation is a bit low.

Lovin' it. This is not my favored style by any stretch, but to deny this brew's quality is a fool's errand. It's nuanced (if not infinitely deep) and extremely well balanced, hitting all the style benchmarks beautifully. Doppelbock lovers should go apeshit for this one.

Weihenstephan is my favorite brewer for a reason.I had never heard of this one actually before my friend from michigan brought this down for me.A beautiful beer a great mahogany color,thick very appetizing head to it.Nice sweet malty smell with caramel and a little burnt taste in the palate the way it should be.Alcohol was very prevelant in taste as well.A man beer from a world class brewer.

Appearance  This DB is a dark brown in color with a an off-white head that left some nice lacing on the glass and never did completely disappear.

Smell  The raw unsulphored molasses and light unsweetened maple complimented the heavily-toasted malt base. I like my Doppelbocks a bit on the edgy side, and this is a wild one.

Taste  The malts are incredibly tasty here and even have a sense of wheat. The toasted level is very high. The sweets step back a bit from where they were at the nose. The finish is a dab of chocolate covered in malts.

Mouthfeel  I just love the mouthfeel of this DB. It is incredibly smooth. The beer touching your throat on the way down is like rubbing fine silk against your cheeks.

This isnt full-bodied but its a lot bigger than medium. There is some bitterness, especially in the aftertaste, but nothing that dominates or is overly harsh.

Drinkability  This really is a class act. Its as well put together as their weizens. Its one of the smoothest DBs that Ive ever had.

Update - I try to have this every year and for 2007 thought to update the review.

This really is a tremendous brew, consistent year after year after year. The malts and light molasses flavors are raw but the mouthfeel incredibly smooth. Well done as usually by this magnificent brewery.

I poured it from a bottle as well into my Aventinus Weizenbock glass. It poured a dark deep reddish tint with a slight head that dissipated quickly. When I took a good sniff of this complex beer I got a nose of roasted malts and dark fruits. The taste was similar to the nose of this beer. I tasted the roasted malts, the dark fruits like figs, prunes(i couldn’t really put my tongue on it) and some chocolate undertones. The mouthfeel is a medium to full body doppelbock that hides the 7.4% abv well. That makes it quite dangerous since I could keep drinking this. There is a medium level of carbonation. Overall this is one of the world’s top doppelbocks. I maybe biased because doppelbocks are my favorite style of beer, but this is a fine specimen of one!

Dark, Dark, Dark!!! Color is wonderfully caramel brown with a brilliant ruby hue when held to sunlight. Crown is almond and fluffy. Aroma is butt kicking and brilliant. Toffee, chocolate, caramel, banana, plums, oh my. Taste is dominating, spicy, biting, strong, and full. This is like a weizenbock on steroids. Just an awesome and unique brew.

Time to see how Weihenstephaner handles doppelbocks. If it's anything like the rest of their beers, it'll end up being a benchmark for the style. Korbinian looks brown as it pours from the bottle, but appears pitch black sitting in my glass. The light-tan colored head slowly fades to a swampy and bubbly skin that barely covers the black-hole brew. Even holding it a few feet from a light bulb only produces a faint ruby color that shimmers through.

Really malty and sweet up front in the aroma, and even from the first sniff, I can tell that this is going to be a complex and layered brew. Cocoa powder, light caramel, sticky molasses, with hints of some darker, brown-sugar coated fruits like dates, plums, and bruised raisins. A kiss of smoke in the finale tops off a perplexing and interesting aromatic profile; definitely robust and full-bodied.

As eyebrow-raising as the aroma was, you'll be glad to know that the flavor follows it along quite nicely. And also like the aroma, the taste is strong, pungent, and robust. Sweet out of the gate, some caramel, toffee, and brown sugar with some deeper hints of burnt molasses. Some more sweetness piles on in the form of anise and black licorice - something I don't exactly love, but it works well enough in small amounts among the myriad of flavors happening right now.

Plums, dates, and sugar-coated raisins hit mid-to-end with dark, "just-shy-of-roasted" malts, hefty cocoa powder, and a bit of complex nuttiness and woodsy flavors in the finish. Matching the flavor profile, the body is a touch sticky and oily, medium in size with decent carbonation and a mouth feel that falls just short of creamy.

Korbinian is certainly an interestingly complex brew with aroma and flavor profiles that are both "all over the place" and "perfectly content" all at once. Doppelbocks aren't my forte and I certainly haven't had enough to speak eloquently on them, but Korbinian is a pretty tasty brew, and certainly a good lesson in the style. Still worth a shot whether you are in tune with doppelbocks or not - at the price, you can't really lose.

Pours a very dark reddish amber color. No lacing to speak of. Smells quite sweet, almost Coca-Cola like. Taste is very nutty, with a nice mouthfeel. I also get a hint of root beer barrels (very odd, but good). This is a great sipping beer for a cold night.

Overall, even though doppelbocks aren't my favorite style, this one is darn good. I can see myself picking up one of these every once in a while.
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Well this is rather embarrassing. I went to review this beer, and found out that I already reviewed it! Just upping the taste and mouthfeel to 4.5...

The Weihenstephaner Korbinian pours from the wonderfully artistic 16.9oz bottle a deep dark cola brown with a two finger eggshell head on top. Hold it up to a light and you'll get a vivid blood red hue. An attractive brew. Aromas are rich, decadant and intense. Big melding of sweet caramel, roasted nuts, and lots of dark fruits (plum, raisin). A wisp of powdered cocoa along with dark baked bread. Sinfully deeply malty and incredibly inviting. Sit back and enjoy smelling this one for awhile as it's not to be missed.

First sip brings a rich robust dark bready maltiness. Sweet caramel and roasted nuttiness along with a swirl of dark fruits. I get some cocoa in there as well. Fairly sweet, but not at all cloying. A dark bready fruitcake in a glass (a truly good fruitcake though, not those ones you get around the holidays). Delicious and all about the wonderful malt. One of the best dopplebocks I've yet to sample.

Mouthfeel is creamy, medium bodied and chewy with a mellow carbonation. A meal in a glass for sure, I'd take this over a loaf of bread anyday :-). I find this to be a very drinkable brew and it will be what I turn to when I'm craving a dopplebock. This one is not to be missed. I believe I paid 1.99 for this bottle, which is a freakin steal for how good it is. Check this one out ASAP.

Poured a nice dark caramel brown color with amber highlights. Fairly aggressive pour led to a nice whipped two finger tan head which slowly bubbled its way down. Aroma is slightly sweet with hints of caramel and clove spiciness over a sweet bread body. Im new to dopplebocks so Im not used to their aroma profile yet so it is hard to pick out the subtleties. But this one sure does smell nice. Initially cold Im not impressed with much flavor. Im going to let this one sit for a bit to warm *15 minutes pass* after warming a bit the subtle flavors start to present themselves. There is a pretty huge malt presence just as I expected. But it is balanced well with just a touch of hops at the end. The malts dont present themselves as overly sweet in this beer as I was expecting. Mouthfeel is nice and full and creamy to some extent. This is a very nice beer that I could easily sit down with and have a couple.